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The ARC is celebrating its 21st year and has grown
in popularity throughout the years. It was first proposed by a guy called Jimmy
Cornell who was a renowned Ocean sailor but the passage has its routes back in
the trading days with the West Indies. The passage uses the trade winds that
basically circulate the Atlantic ocean in a clockwise direction. Most of the
weather patterns around the Atlantic are governed by the Azores High. This high
pressure system has its centre as the Azores Islands and is a massive
system the covers millions of square kilometres. While the high 'wobbles' a
little in its position and expands or contracts depending on the surrounding
weather systems, sun etc it is basically always present. Any low pressure system
that sweeps across the Atlantic in a North East direction towards the UK is
influenced by the high. If the high is set strong and/or northerly in its
position the low pressure systems that bring us our rain and wind are literally
'bounced' further north over Scotland. Clearly if it is weak then the lows track
more south and hit England and the South East (the high is weaker in the Winter
- hence more wind and rain).
So if you don't want to beat against the winds
across the Atlantic (a very tough business) you need to get South asap so you
can pick up the winds between 4 and 7 o' clock. Once that has been done, and the
Trades are set, you get 15 to 25kt winds from the East or North East - they are
not guaranteed but likely - having said that if we were two or three days later
the winds behind us would be light and variable from the South East - a big
problem.
Down wind sailing is in many ways the most
difficult. The motion of the boat, which is a combination of the sail
configuration and the rolling Atlantic waves, makes the boat motion very rolly.
Also there is a lot of sail up to keep the average speed as high as possible
(without over pushing the boat) and the only way to get this down is to
round up in to the waves and wind. Also the nature of the sail
configuration means there is little control - something we will need to fix
before we get anywhere near to St Lucia - now 826.1nm to go with a cross track
error of 12.7 nm - the distance off the preferred route.
Keeping the crew profile going we will be focussing
on Ian and Martyn today. Tony (first mate) and myself (Andrew) have
been doing the blogs (hopefully a mix of factual information and Big
Brother) and much of the communications and we hope you have enjoyed
reading them. We are also kindred spirits on the technical side so we have
kept GE well maintained - things on boats break at an alarming rate - a mix
of high loads and harsh environments. Items include, galley light, generator,
cabin trim etc. Luckily (and mariners are not supposed to say 'touch....... or
clink glasses) we have had no major breaks. Several boats have lost
masts, rudders, sails blown out etc and on one boat the skipper has
broken down and the crew do not know how to sail the boat. Temporary rigs
are being set up and diesel is being passed between boats to motor to safety.
Many boats will only have 3/400 litres in their tanks and will be carrying
a similar amount in cans strapped around the boat. 600 miles is a good
range for a boat but despite the distance we have gone we could still
not motor to St Lucia - this is a big ocean and the sense of isolation
and vulnerability needs to be experienced - any boat more than 3 to 5
miles away cannot be seen - many are 100 miles away (over 20 hours away but
once you see a friendly boat there is not much they can do - no helicopters out
here). Boats are using the spinnaker pole and taking doors from inside the cabin
to make tempory rudders etc.
 So Ian and Martyn. Ian puts his occupation as
having a number of directorships and plans to buy a boat and sail off around the
world. He is one of those guys who does everything at 110% - even sitting down
and resting! In sailing terms, Martyn is a fish out of water - which is
more that can be said for his fish, who are firmly in the water! Martyn had done
little sailing before but has approached it with his usual openness and
enthusiasm. He is a bit of a demon at washing up and is an able hand on deck
'you scurvy dog'. His humour is bad and is often seen walking around the
cabin in his Y Fronts at night claiming he is trying to stop all the
rattles and bangs as the boat heels over - slightly scary for me and
he's my brother, goodness knows what the rest of the crew think - well I do know
but it's unrepeatable.
So that's it for today - before we close off I
should tell you about the highlight of the day - supper. Andrew prepared a
magnificent chilli and, would you believe it, TWO puddings - chocolate mousse
and apple crumble. The chilli was extremely good, if a little hot. David was
chiding Pascal (who was sweating profusely) for being a wimp, when he too
bit on a red hot chilli and turned bright red. After gasping for air for
about 2 minutes, he was heard to compare the experience with a tear gas trial
that he was involved with!! When all had settled down it was decided to put
Gaviscon on tap for the rest of the evening - just in case!!
All is well aboard Great Escape as we settle down
for another night at sea after a fast days sailing - our thoughts drift
ever more towards the finish line with only 750 miles to go. Love and best
wishes to all our friends and families, wherever theymay be.
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